Close call this morning!

Yep! I was standing out by the road at 6 am today with my lunchbox in hand waiting for my ride to go to work when I heard something snorting and breathing heavy behind me. I turned around to find myself only 5 ft away from a big Black Bear. I had to act quickly........thought to myself that maybe I should make a run for it, then decided that he could probably run faster mad than I could scared $h-tless. So I threw my arms in the air to make myself look bigger.(I'm 6'3" to start with)

He stopped walking, just looked at me, then slowly turned around and walked 10 ft away, stopped again, then started running towards me. I threw my arems in the air again and yelled then it ran away back towards to bush a block away. The guys I travel with showed up only minutes later.

Kind of scary with an animal that big out of its elements charging at you right in the middle of town.

Sneaky bastards aren't they! I'm glad it was you and not your kids!

Good work!

So am I! The kids would have been attacked.

Oh My Gosh My heart dropped just reading it. Yelling at him worked!?!
I was thinking you should throw him a sandwich from your lunch box.....year I know , I would have been eaten
Like PB said, " I'm glad it was you and not your kids! "

well i hope ya pants aint too full.....pleased to hear your safe and well


and damn next time have a camera with ya

Yep ! Your own actions just save your life ! Black Bears don't bluff .
By standing your ground you did the right thing . Man! I honestly would have pooped my pants . Glad your OK

BigAl said:

Yep ! Your own actions just save your life ! Black Bears don't bluff .
By standing your ground you did the right thing . Man! I honestly would have pooped my pants . Glad your OK

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Don't worry Al, I seriously had to take a peek this morning to see if there were any "streaks" left behind after the bear incident!


There has been a drastic increase of bears in towns the past few years. See, our government in all their high and mighty wisdom, started listening to all the tree huggers and greenie-weenie's that populate the cities of southern ontario a few years ago when they(the general pullation of southern ontario) started crying foul about how each year, poor little winnie the pooh and his mother were senselessly being killed in the spring bear hunt. So, the government cancelled the spring bear hunt and since then, bears have become more and more common in town. They don't have that problem down there since there are very few bears, if any. See, in Ontario, it's always been a case of southern Ontario vs. northern Ontario. And, since sourthern ontario has the most population, they pretty much control what happens here in the north.

Getting pretty fed up with it. I know allot of Northern Ontario residents have talked about changing our area's name to eastern Manitoba. But that's a topic for another time.....

BigAl said:

Yep ! Your own actions just save your life ! Black Bears don't bluff .
By standing your ground you did the right thing . Man! I honestly would have pooped my pants . Glad your OK

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I think the standing your own ground thing only works if you are a big male. I suspect the bear wouldn't take it to seriously if it was a 5'4" woman.

PBinWA said:

I think the standing your own ground thing only works if you are a big male. I suspect the bear wouldn't take it to seriously if it was a 5'4" woman.

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I agree.

groomerguyNWO said:

Don't worry Al, I seriously had to take a peek this morning to see if there were any "streaks" left behind after the bear incident!

<snip>

See, in Ontario, it's always been a case of southern Ontario vs. northern Ontario. And, since sourthern ontario has the most population, they pretty much control what happens here in the north.

Getting pretty fed up with it. I know allot of Northern Ontario residents have talked about changing our area's name to eastern Manitoba. But that's a topic for another time.....

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yup.
them pesky southerners are nothing but trouble.

good job on thinking quick and not panicking!

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You saw a BEAR!?!?!?!?! Its was close to you and was RUNNING at you!?!?!?!
Are you pulling my chain man!?!?!? I would have gotten a heart attack!!!!

Did you call the local LE. Not sure what you call them there. I would also contact the news media (maybe we will get lucky and some lrfty greenie new ancor will come out to play with the bear and get mauled!) How would that be to watch on live TV.

Deadly Sushi said:

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You saw a BEAR!?!?!?!?! Its was close to you and was RUNNING at you!?!?!?!
Are you pulling my chain man!?!?!? I would have gotten a heart attack!!!!

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Not pulling any chains here.......it was walking towards me.......I think it was more interested in the neighbour's garbage can but nonetheless, scared the crap outa me. Here I am, half asleep witing for my ride when I turn around and see this big black bear coming towards me. You're right about the heart attack though......felt like I was gonna have one for a second there.

Snowcat Operations said:

Did you call the local LE. Not sure what you call them there. I would also contact the news media (maybe we will get lucky and some lrfty greenie new ancor will come out to play with the bear and get mauled!) How would that be to watch on live TV.

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No sense calling the law.....they won't do anything about a nuisance bear. The only thing that gets done around here is that they set a live trap and when they catch it, they bring the bear out of town and release it. They usually find their way back within a few days.

My brother had one in his yard last year. He was watching tv in his living room when he looked out his picture window and a bear was sitting there watching tv through the window. They set a trap and caught it within a few days.

Deadly Sushi said:

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You saw a BEAR!?!?!?!?! Its was close to you and was RUNNING at you!?!?!?!
Are you pulling my chain man!?!?!? I would have gotten a heart attack!!!!

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Reading this post almost gave me heart failure...

I have never come in close contact with a bear in the wild,Brian- but I think it would cause me to find out if I can still do the 50 yard dash, which I doubt.
Glad you were safe and from now on, watch your back!

Snowcat Operations said:

Did you call the local LE. Not sure what you call them there. I would also contact the news media (maybe we will get lucky and some lrfty greenie new ancor will come out to play with the bear and get mauled!) How would that be to watch on live TV.

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The cops aren't going to do squat for him. He told off the head man last month!

This is my second close encounter with a bear.

The first time happened a few years ago where I go camping during the opening weekend of fishing season. I was driving into our campsite when I noticed one of my american friends running around frantically. He was alone in the camp at the time and was as white as a ghost. Then I saw what he was scared about. A bear had wandered into our camp and wouldn't leave. Luckily, I had my trusty 12 guage with me for just such an occasion. We tried for about an hour to get the thing to leave but it was becoming aggressive and getting closer and closer to us.

I decided to haul out the gun and fire of a shot in the air. It didn't scare the bear. The next shot was right in the head. It didn't kill the bear but he took off running and we never saw it again. After I shot it and it took off running, I turned around and all I saw was a trail of dust. My american buddy hopped in his van and headed to town and stayed at a motel that night. The next day, he came back to camp and was still shaking. He packed up all his stuff and headed home. We haven't seen him since then. He had been coming up here for 30+ yrs and that was his last trip up.

What load did you have in your shotgun? I have never thought that a 12 gauge with slugs would be very effective on a bear.

no slugs...........#3 steel shot........just enough to get his attention......

Well guys, it happened again. Only this time, I was a safe distance away. I was only a few hundred feet from my campsite last night wetting a line in the boat right by a bridge on the highway catchin a few fish when I saw something big and black coming towards me on shore. A few guys were fishing from shore also. It was actually a little amusing to see them almost crap their pants when they turned around to see a fully grown big black bear. The bear climbed the back of the highway, jumped over the railing, then crossed the bridge. It then jumped over a railing again and proceeded to head towards my camper......not funny anymore! I quickly pulled up anchor and headed back to camp to find him sniffing around my campsite. Not wanting to hang around there and get too friendly, as soon as I pulled up on shore, I got to my camper as quick as I could, grabbed the .300 win mag from under the bed, and proceeded after him. I fired a shot in the air and he ran off. I think he knew the next one would have been aimed right at him. No sign of him after that. He must have found his way to the dump a mile down the road. The only reason I went after him was to make sure he got the message that he wasn't a welcome guest at my campsite. If you don't do something right away about those bears, they keep coming back and I don't want my kids to be scared of going out to camp because of bears.

groomerguyNWO said:

Well guys, it happened again. Only this time, I was a safe distance away. I was only a few hundred feet from my campsite last night wetting a line in the boat right by a bridge on the highway catchin a few fish when I saw something big and black coming towards me on shore. A few guys were fishing from shore also. It was actually a little amusing to see them almost crap their pants when they turned around to see a fully grown big black bear. The bear climbed the back of the highway, jumped over the railing, then crossed the bridge. It then jumped over a railing again and proceeded to head towards my camper......not funny anymore! I quickly pulled up anchor and headed back to camp to find him sniffing around my campsite. Not wanting to hang around there and get too friendly, as soon as I pulled up on shore, I got to my camper as quick as I could, grabbed the .300 win mag from under the bed, and proceeded after him. I fired a shot in the air and he ran off. I think he knew the next one would have been aimed right at him. No sign of him after that. He must have found his way to the dump a mile down the road. The only reason I went after him was to make sure he got the message that he wasn't a welcome guest at my campsite. If you don't do something right away about those bears, they keep coming back and I don't want my kids to be scared of going out to camp because of bears.

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Atta Boy! The warning shot usually works but always be ready for the follow-up!

That .300 Win Mag is just downright un-Canadian of you though!

I was just wondering if you had of shot the bear would there have been consequences? I wonder sometimes what it would take for us to get away with shooting some animals in the wild.

American Woman said:

I was just wondering if you had of shot the bear would there have been consequences? I wonder sometimes what it would take for us to get away with shooting some animals in the wild.

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Question # 1 The results would have been a dead bear provided a suitable firearm was used .
Question #2 Ask Your local Game Warden